Pages

Saturday, November 9, 2013

EA Sports & Tiger Woods Cut Ties: Is This The End Of The Tiger Woods Powerhouse Brand Name???

EA Sports began using legendslike Arnold Palmer to entice thosewhose interest in TW haddisintegrated over time.

When you think of sports video
games, you immediately think of EA Sports, the producer of some of the most
popular video games of all-time. When you think of specific sports games, the
conversation almost instantly turns to the Madden franchise. But after that, where
does your brain wander? A large majority of sports gamers would probably
say Tiger Woods PGA Tour. The partnership between gaming
giant EA Sports and golfing legend Tiger Woods has seen incredible success that
has resulted in over $770 million worth of games being sold across 14 editions
of the game. That run has now come to an end as the two sides have mutually
agreed to end their relationship.

It seems
like this is coming at a very interesting time as Tiger Woods has now risen
back to the top of the golfing world, and EA Sports should be looking for
profitable gaming lines as the NCAA Football brand has been thrown by the
wayside. EA Sports is going to continue producing a golf game, but who will be
the face of it now? Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, and Rory McIlroy are the three
most probably candidates, but the gameplay will be much more important nowadays
without TW’s name on the box.

Young guns like Rickie Fowler were used like Arnold Palmeras a buffer zone for those fans who were upset over TW'srecent indiscretions. Fowler, Bradley, and McIlroy willlikely all be in line to help save this brand in the future.

This
break-up appeared to be coming on slowly but surely over the past few years as the
last two covers depicted young star Rickie Fowler and legend Arnold Palmer
instead of the man with his name on the game. While the roughly $6.2 million
payday Woods receives from having his name associated with the game will not
put him in a financial bind, this break-up does show how much Tiger Woods’
brand has steadily disintegrated over time. Sure, he is still the biggest
attraction in the world of golf by a long shot, but the world does not seem to
need him as much as they once did. The only sponsors that have stuck with Tiger
through it all have been Nike and NetJets, thus depicting that he simply is not
the marketing superhero he once was.

Do not feel
too bad for Tiger Woods though people. This week, he was paid over $3 million
dollars to play in a tournament in Turkey and hit a golf ball from Asia to
Europe, not a bad payday if you ask me. This split represents a new chapter in the
lives of both EA Sports and Tiger Woods, as the gaming company focuses more on
its next generation gaming and Woods' attempts to step out of the limelight and
focus on taking down Jack Nickalus’ record of 18 majors. One thing is certain,
the end of an era is upon us, time to take a mulligan and move on.

The end of an era may be some level of foreshadowing for both Tiger Woods andEA Sports, stay tuned for those developments.

Scott Eastment is a former college baseball player and currently writes articles about various MLB, NFL, and sport business topics for Tru School Sports & Baseball Hot Corner. He has his MBA in sport business and in marketing and is an avid extreme skier. Follow him on Twitter @SportsGeek02

Analytical
& highly creative marketing & sport business MBA graduate with
experience in digital & social media marketing; seeking employment with a
company in the marketing sector that possesses an innovative &
forward-thinking business plan which allows both employee & employer to
grow in the digital and social media marketing industry. Rigorously keeps up-to-date with constantly evolving
technologies in online social networking, the blogosphere, search tools and Web
2.0, and works closely with clients and fellow employees to create innovative,
effective campaigns. Skills, qualifications, & experience include:

3 comments:

There will be no face of EA Sports next golf game IMO, they'll just put whoever's hot at the time on the cover, like they do with their other sports games. Tiger, I feel, will continue to make video games elsewhere.

With how badly McIlroy has struggled as of late, it seems very tricky right now to even attempt to find a cover boy. While Fowler seems to have the look and 'sellability' for it, he just is not a good enough golfer yet. Keegan Bradley may be a good choice, but like Bubba he is not consistent enough yet. The game should just have like 5 or 6 young guns on the cover until someone really breaks through.

Without Tiger Woods Golf is incomplete.. I love to play EA Sports game and his PGA tour ... Nice game I love to play as Tiger Woods :) feeling that I am brand ambassador of Nokia Golf Store.. :)http://apparelnbags.com/nike-golf/index.htm